FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY...

Well here we are just a few short hours from what begins to be one of the most exciting trips we have ever been on. We've been putting in the time shooting our bows, endless trips to Scheels to purchase gear and necessities, our camo is packed, passports in hand and we are ready to go! Next step, longest car ride ever, then to cross the boarder into Canada. No matter how much we have prepped, Mother Nature is in control. Anything could happen on this trip, we could get up there and be completely skunked and not even see a bear, but fingers crossed, and prayers to baby Jesus that the odds work in our favor! We have had a few people tell us to shoot the first legal bear that walks in, don't worry about the size as long as its legal. Your first bear hunt is about the experience, the memories, after you get your first you can hold off for the big one. So thats my plan at least for now, hopefully its a big bear, but I'm hoping to say the first animal I ever harvested was a black bear with my bow! For Ryan I hope he gets to harvest a big black bear with that crossbow of his, because that would be pretty sweet!

Whatever happens it will most definitely be an adventure and Im ready for it. Im ready for a week of outdoors, of less people, less talking, less noise and no schedule. Ready to feel like me! Thats the one thing I love about the outdoors, it makes me feel like myself. I feel closer to God when I can just be still in His presence, out in His beautiful world that He created. Ryan is ready to, or as he puts it, "I'm ready for know one to bug me." Am I nervous? Well parts of me are. Nervous about a bear climbing my tree, nervous about how things will work for Ryan, but Im learning to go with the flow on some things. I had friend tell me I worry to much about stuff like this and that it prevents me from having fun, and maybe I do, but we have had bad experiences before and some of those have left a bad taste in our mouth. You think differently about travel when you have a spouse in a wheelchair and no one can completely understand that unless they know it first hand. My amazing friend Carol very sweetly reminded me a few days ago to not put energy into a future I can't control. She reminded me to enjoy the present moment and to look forward to the amazing opportunity ahead of us. Take some deep breaths and just let go. Pretty good advice I thought.

Hopefully when we return we will have an exciting blog post full of plenty of bear pictures, if not we will most definitely be sharing our experience with you and all the photos that go along with it! One little favor to ask of you guys, please keep us in your prayers for safe travels and two filled bear tags! We want to give a big shout out to our two new friends, both named Trent, that work at Scheels in the archery department, they both have been awesome resources for us on advice and getting everything we need for our trip. They also have been incredibly wonderful in helping me build confidence in shooting my bow! Ive learned so much from them these last few weeks and their kindness is very much appreciated! Also a shout out to Casey Hedeen, our friend and co-owner of Claim Your Trophy for setting up this hunt and for all the advice and support. Another big thanks to our family, and friends for the support and encouragement on this trip and our bosses for giving us time off of work. So thats that, we are off bear hunting!! Yippee!! May the odds be ever in our favor!​